


Second Intention

by LNC



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Identity Reveal, Lila is That Bitch, Set Mid-way through season 3, Set after Onichan but before Ikari Gozen, some relationship teasing hijinks inbetween
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-03-17 09:27:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18962482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LNC/pseuds/LNC
Summary: Lila knows. Tikki panics. Chaos ensues.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [caterinawrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/caterinawrites/gifts).



> Happy birthday to my lovely wonderful twin @purrincess-chat!

“I know your secret, _Ladybug_.”

Lila’s sneer wasn’t nearly as terrifying as her words.  It took everything in Marinette not to react as she met the girl’s hazel gaze through the bathroom mirror.

“I’m sorry?”

Lila rolled her eyes.  “Don’t act so innocent.  We both know you’re not.”

Tikki shifted anxiously at her side, but Marinette took her time as she finished washing her hands.

_Don’t flinch.  Don’t flinch. Don’t flinch._

“Another story, Lila?” She said, grabbing a paper towel before finally turning around.

“Don’t even try.”

“I don’t have to try anything,” She said.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lila’s lips were curled into a disdainful smile.

“Alya may not be able to connect the dots, but I’m not an idiot.  You’re not a good liar, Marinette.”

Lila’s eyes flickered to her ears and for a moment Marinette thought she might make a grab for them.  There really would be no helping it then even if getting a hit in on her nemesis would feel good in the moment.

But Marinette didn’t need to give the girl any confirmation.  Not when she wasn’t even sure _how_ Lila knew what she thought she knew.

“I bet Hawkmoth will be interested in my little theory.” She said instead, leaning back and resting one hand on her hip.  “Or maybe I should run it by the public first?”

The smile she shot her was sugary sweet, full of loathing.  “I guess we’ll have to see.”

She tossed one of her tails over her shoulder and left the bathroom.  Marinette’s shoulders stayed tense, her body frozen, as the implications of their conversation set in.

_Lila knows. Lila knows. Lila knows._

There was a familiar tightness in her chest, a tingling in her hands, that warned her what was coming next.  She felt her knees tremble and her eyes unfocus as the dingy beige tiles melded in with the dingy beige stalls and everything, everything felt at once too tight and too big.

She couldn’t breathe.  She was going to throw up.  She was going to –

Marinette went down like cataclysm.

Tikki cried out as her charge collapsed on top of her, head slamming against the floor.

“Marinette!” She cried, frantically flying around the unconscious girl.  “ _Marinette!_ ”  


* * *

  
_Lunge. Parry.  
_

_Feint._

_Riposte._

_Parry. Counter-Attack._

_Point._

“Yield,” Adrien panted, sword falling to his side.  “I yield.”

His opponent dropped her fighting stance.  “It’s not yielding if I beat you.”

He laughed, pulling up his mask with a sweaty grin. “ _Touche._ ”

Kagami mimicked him, shaking her hair out and wiping the sweat off her forehead.

“You’re distracted.”

Adrien shrugged, guilty, and fought off a yawn.  “I haven’t been sleeping very well lately.”

“Work?”

“Something like that.”

The truth was he’d been out late with Ladybug again.  After their latest run in with Hawkmoth, one in which he’d not only been cataclysmed but they’d almost lost the Bee miraculous, they both were feeling a little on edge.

Mayura’s appearance certainly didn’t help ease any of their concerns.  With the peacock miraculous in play their enemy was as strong as ever and mistakes could be… costly.

He’d never admit as much to his lady, but his chest still ached from where Miraculer had hit him.  Plagg said they were lucky it was just an ache.

Adrien didn’t ask for clarifications.

Instead, for the last few weeks, he and his lady had focused on more hand-to-hand training.  If Hawkmoth was stepping up then they needed to as well. The additional time spent with his lady was an added incentive.  His loss of sleep… not so much.

“Let’s cut today short, then.” Kagami said.  “No need to exhaust yourself.”

He smirked.  “Are you worried about me, Tsurugi?”

She blushed - it was light and faint and sweet.  Her words, on the other hand, were as sharp as her blade.

“Not at all, Agreste. You’re just not a challenge like this.”

“Sure,” He said, still smiling.  “I’ll see you at practice Thursday then, yeah?”

“I expect you to be at your best.”

Adrien headed towards the locker room, thoughts of a cool shower and warm bed.  He had some reading to catch up on for Lit, but he could do that during the lunch break tomorrow. Despite his father’s thoughts otherwise, the world wouldn’t end if Adrien skipped one night of homework.

He was nearly to the doors when he heard them.

“– just went down!”

“She’s a strong kid, bug.  She’ll be okay.”

“Where is Chat Noir?” She wailed.

“He’s with that other one.” His kwami said.

“You bring him here _now_ , Plagg.  You bring him to me _right now_ .” The second voice grew higher with each word.  “That child, that wretched _witch_.  If you don’t cataclysm her I _will_.”

Adrien burst through the locker room doors to find Plagg and a small, red and black sprite circling him frantically.

A kwami.

 _Ladybug’s_ kwami.

_But then where was…?_

The thought barely had time to form before the kwami was on him, tugging at his hair, pushing at his back.

“Chat Noir, we have to go!  She’s not responding. She’s all alone.  That _awful, awful_ girl.”

Adrien didn’t have time to register her words before she shot off, phasing through the doors and leaving him and Plagg to give chase.

Panic set in the moment she disappeared.  There weren’t many things that made Plagg stray from his side and he played fast and loose with the rules on his best days.  From everything his partner had told him the same could not be said for the little ladybug. Which meant something must be terribly wrong.

Dread, tight and hollow, constricted his chest. 

Ladybug was hurt.  Ladybug was alone. Ladybug was…

_Here?_

Adrien skid around the corner of the hallway just in time to see the red kwami disappear through the doors of the girl’s bathroom.  He didn’t have time to consider the consequences however and burst through the bathroom doors with Plagg.

“Ladybug, I’m–”

His words caught in his throat as he saw his fencing partner kneeling on the ground.

“... _Kagami?_ ” He asked, heart suspended, confused.

The girl in question turned her head, lips set in a thin line.  It took him a moment more to take in the whole picture. Only then did he realize _she_ wasn’t the one who was hurt.

Perfect pink ballet flats tied up with a bow.  Pale capris dirty from the floor and a blazer bunched halfway up her back.  An all-too familiar set of pigtails cradled in Kagami’s lap with a red kwami buzzing agitated overhead.

“ _Marinette_.” He croaked.

Some distant part of him was paralyzed with shock and wonder and a myriad of other completely inappropriate feelings for the moment.  But mostly he was terrified by the image of his partner, lifeless and pale on the floor.

He rushed forward, not so much pushing Kagami out of the way as pushing into their shared space.  His hands hovered over her head, her shoulders, her arms, useless in their panic.

“She’s breathing okay,” Kagami said, recognizing his glassy eyes for what they were.  “I think she passed out.”

Plagg drifted closer, hovering just above Adrien’s shoulder.

“Tikki what happened?”

Ladybug’s kwami - Tikki - landed on her charge’s neck, nuzzling into her jaw only to fly up again and circle nervously over head.  Repeating the process.

“That horrible horrible girl.” She hissed.  “She knows about Marinette.”

Adrien froze, his hands clenching.

“Who knows, Tikki?”

“That _liar_.”

“Lila?” He asked.  Kagami stiffened beside him. “Lila knows about Marinette?”

Marinette shifted in their laps, groaning.

“Marinette!” Tikki cried.  “Marinette _please_ wake up.”

Adrien hesitated before taking her hand in his.  “Come on LB. You’re okay.”

The girl in question opened her eyes, slowly.  Blinked up in confusion as they met an unfamiliar hazel, expression stoic.

“Kagami?” The words barely left her mouth before her eyes flitted over to Adrien, then Tikki, then Plagg.  “Adrien– _Tikki?_ ”

She last word ended on a shriek, as she struggled to sit up only for Kagami to press her back down.

Her kwami hovered, anxious and apologetic.

“I’m sorry, Marinette.  I didn’t know what else to do.”

Marinette’s eyes darted from Kagami to Adrien to Plagg, head throbbing, mind racing.   _Too much.  This was too much_.

“I–” She swallowed. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Kagami pursed her lips. “Please don’t.”

Adrien was already up, grabbing paper towels and wetting them.

He handed them over with shaky hands.  “Are you okay?

“I think it was a panic attack.” She said, taking the offered towels and placing them on her forehead.  Better to look at nothing than piece through the disaster unfolding before her. “I was… overwhelmed.”

Hell, she was overwhelmed _now_.

Lila knew she was Ladybug.  And judging from Tikki’s conspicuous presence she wasn’t the only one.

_Oh god._

Beneath her, Kagami shifted.

“I’m happy you’re not seriously hurt,” She said, cool as the tile beneath her. “But when either of you have a moment– would someone care to explain _those_?”

Adrien’s panicked eyes met hers.

She groaned.

Maybe it was better when she was unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2

The Dupain-Chengs set two extra places for dinner.

It was difficult, getting Madame Tsurugi to agree to the change in schedule.  Only Adrien’s presence and a white lie kept Kagami from being whisked away in her family limo.  Marinette wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or unnerved.

On the one hand, explanations were needed.  On the other hand… did Kagami _really_ need to be around for this conversation with Adrien?

_Chat Noir._

_That_ revelation alone was two extra hands on a whole separate body.  Collapsing against the tile notwithstanding– was it any wonder she had a headache?

Marinette couldn’t read her companions’ expressions as she scrambled into her bedroom.  The ice queen lived up to her name as she took in the pink walls, pink rugs, and pink accents that decorated the room.  Something inside her bristled– an ugly, hateful shame. A fear of judgment and desire to judge in return. Marinette squashed it down and deep.

Adrien was less an enigma. _Chat Noir_ had always been an open book.  It was uncomfortably easy to figure out what he was thinking now that she knew to look for it.  It’s the _looking_ that was the problem.

God help her she wasn’t ready for any of this.

“We should move to the balcony,” She said, closing the trapdoor behind her.  “My parents will eavesdrop otherwise.”

She corralled the two up her loft and onto the balcony, ignoring Tikki’s nervous fussing as Marinette took the stairs.

“You need to lie down,” She said, buzzing around her head.  Marinette waved her away.

“I’m fine, Tikki.  It was just a panic attack.”

She turned to face the hatch when she saw Adrien’s hand stretching down for her.

“Please, my lady.” His eyes were glittering, anxious in the afternoon light.  “Let us take care of you.”

She took his hand.

Kagami was standing by the balcony railing, back to them.  With Tikki and Adrien herding her towards the reclining chair, Marinette wondered where she stood in this awkward little trio.  Then wondered whether Kagami was thinking the same thing.

“So...” She said, when the silence stretched beyond the limits of comfort.

“So…” Adrien mimicked, eyes searching, never leaving her face.  It was more than a little unnerving, especially with his hand still wrapped around her own.  Marinette knew her cheeks were red and dreaded the sweat she knew was pooling in her palms.

She really, _really_ wasn’t ready for this.

Thankfully, someone else was.

“You’re Ladybug.” Kagami said, pinning Marinette with her gaze.  “And Adrien you’re Chat Noir.”

Adrien nodded, somewhat sheepishly, and released Marinette’s hand to rub the back of his neck.

“This...” Kagami said, face inscrutable. “This makes sense now.”

She stopped herself from asking _how_ and begging for the girl to enlighten her because Marinette was still reeling from it all.  Instead she leaned back into her chair and closed her eyes, for once happy to let her partner take the lead.

He knew this not-quite-enemy better than her anyways.

“Where do you want us to start?” He asked.

Kagami took a seat on the ground.

“Start at the beginning.”  


* * *

 

  
The beginning took time and Kagami was not shy asking questions. Marinette wished the incisive girl saw less than she suspected she did.  Thankfully the more delicate topics, something she doubted Kagami could understand, were artfully deflected or avoided altogether. A fortuitous minesweep that left a field of emotional bombs in its wake.  The leftovers ready to be picked up in her next conversation with Adrien.

“Tonight?” He’d asked, quietly.

Marinette nodded even though what she _really_ wanted to do was crawl under her covers and never come out again.  But that’s not what a responsible heroine would do and after everything else that happened today she was determined to prove herself responsible.

Besides, Lila was an issue that couldn’t be put off forever.

Adrien gestured towards the Gorilla and his waiting limo.  Kagami shook her head.

“No thank you.  My driver will be along shortly.” She turned to go back into the bakery.

Marinette shot Adrien a frantic look.  The useless boy merely shrugged.

She waited a minute or two after he’d driven off, hoping Kagami’s driver would arrive and put an end to this unlooked for _tete-a-tete_.  Tikki failed her in this regard, however, and Marinette reluctantly rejoined her guest in the stairway.

“I owe you an apology.” Kagami said.

Marinette blinked. “... You do?”

“For the ice rink.” She said, pursing her lips. “Things were more complicated than I’d initially seen.”

“Oh.” Marinette stared down at the carpet.  “It’s not… Thank you. I’m sorry, too.”

Images of the Ladybug and Chat Noir movie premiere danced through her head. A moment of weakness where she’d let Chloe get the best of her better judgment.  The damage might have been avoided, but it was definitely not one of her prouder moments. Even if Kagami was ultimately ignorant of her bad intentions.

She nodded.

The silence was awful.  Heavy and thick.

Her next words slashed through it like a sword.

“He likes you, you know.”

Marinette’s heart skipped.  Kagami continued, frowning.

“I don’t think he realized before today.  But he did.”

She swallowed down the bare-faced truth of _that_ statement, knowing all too well how much Chat Noir was willing to do for her.  And yet, there was a photo of two fencing partners tucked beside a dried up rose nestled somewhere in his heart.

Marinette sighed. “He likes you too.”

“Perhaps.” Kagami conceded.  “We’ll see.”

A bleak declaration for an increasingly bleak conversation.  And yet, she continued on.

“I wanted to say thank you, Marinette. Losing control… letting my emotions get away from me… being akumatized.  Those were not my proudest moments.”

“It’s never anyone’s fault when they get akumatized.” She said, finding comfort and strength in _that_ knowledge at least.  “Hawkmoth takes advantage of us in our darkest moments.  No one would hold that against you.”

“You have a soft heart.”

Despite herself, Marinette laughed.  “Thank you?”

“It wasn’t a compliment,” Kagami said, but she was nearly smiling all the same.

Her cell phone pinged, signaling the arrival of her driver.  What little humor remained in her expression disappeared.

“That girl,” She said lips curling. “Whatever you decide to do.  If I can help in any way...”

“We’ll let you know.” Marinette said.  She hesitated before reaching out and taking the other girl’s hand, squeezing it softly.  “Thank you.”

Kagami stared down at their joined hands.

“Good luck.”


End file.
